And though the tech-savvy Raptor confessed to taking exactly none of the suggestions  "We just went to, like, the Cheesecake Factory"  he has professed his devotion to Twitter by posting regular updates on everything from his whereabouts to his current state of being. All of his updates fall into the parameters of the so-called microblog: They're at most 140 characters in length and text-based. To view the lot of Bosh's output, go to twitter.com/chrisbosh.

"We're hitting (Twitter) hard," said Bosh, speaking, as he occasionally does, in the third person. "It's interesting just to get people's reply. You can put up what you're doing. Or if you have a question, you'd be surprised how much people know. You can be, like, `I need directions to this spot. People will tell you.'"

When the Raptors gather today for their first full-scale practice following the all-star break -- the team had scheduled an informal gathering last night -- it is up to Triano to figure out a way to incorporate the team's newest pieces in Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks.

Banks generally has been viewed as a throw-in piece from the blockbuster deal with Miami last week, but he is a piece Triano must nonetheless use given the financial tag attached to Banks.

Marion gives the Raptors a true starting small forward on a frontcourt that is better balanced. Marion also can slide over at power forward in certain matchups.

"I have no idea. I don't know man. It's doctor talk," he said when asked for a more precise diagnosis. "It was more a buildup of scar tissue or something like that. It something that happened over time, it just didn't happen right away. I had swelling on it and stuff."

He said his problems with the knee date to mid-January.

"I was having problems with it and eventually my body just shut it down," he said. "[It started bothering me] a couple of weeks before."

Bosh said his current knee troubles won't require surgery: "That's the last thing I want to do. It hasn't been recommended. I would seek alternative measures."

Good news First, the nuts and bolts: The league's competition committee meeting was, in the words of Stern, "like a love-in ... we like the state of the game, we like the openness, we like the enforcements and the way the game looks." Meanwhile, the league and the players' union are already holding informal talks relating to the next collective bargaining agreement, since the current CBA expires in 2011 or 2012. NBA Players Association chief Billy Hunter went as far as to say, "We all understand that we live and benefit from the success of the NBA ... we will do everything possible to reach a deal ... we are anxious to reach a deal." Continued labour peace looms.

Wade said he watched some of O'Neal's recent games since he came back from the knee injury. Wade was convinced after O'Neal finish with 22 points, nine rebounds and nine blocks in a Feb. 4 loss against the Lakers. He also had 10 rebounds, seven points and six blocks in a victory against the Spurs on Feb. 11, his last game in Toronto.

''I've seen a few of them when he's put up some big numbers,'' Wade said. ``That's good to see because he had been out for a while. But he came back very strong. And he's benefited from this [All-Star] break as well. I know our doctors and trainers are going to be on him to make sure he's able to stay healthy in the long run.''

The Amare Stoudemire trade talk still has the Bulls among the teams most involved, but a new scenario making the rounds has the Bulls taking part in a three-team deal that would bring Toronto Raptors star Chris Bosh to Chicago.

The rumored swap would send Stoudemire to Toronto and land the Phoenix Suns a package of players and draft picks from the Bulls, likely to include Drew Gooden and his expiring $7.2 million contract, Tyrus Thomas and a first-round pick.

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``That's good to see because he had been out for a while. But he came back very strong. And he's benefited from this [All-Star] break as well. I know our doctors and trainers are going to be on him to make sure he's able to stay healthy in the long run.''

Raptor forward Shawn Marion is looking forward to his fresh start in Toronto, and more importantly he is looking forward to once again playing in a more up tempo system after playing the last season in Miami's 'boring style', the Associated Press is reporting.

"The game is supposed to be exciting," Marion said Tuesday as he and Marcus Banks were introduced to the Toronto media. "I'm tired of playing that boring style in the half court, watching everybody just go up and run plays, call this play. That's boring. The fans don't enjoy it either. People like to see you get up and down, have high-scoring games and dunks and all that stuff. That's what it's about."

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